The University of South Africa (Unisa) offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs across various disciplines — from arts and science to commerce, law, education, engineering, and more.
The institutions distance learning approach enables students to study at their own pace, catering to the needs of working professionals, individuals with family commitments, and those who face geographical constraints.
Students may study full-time or part-time which allows them to work while studying, they also get to structure their own schedule in order to complete each course they are registered for.
Unisa 2024 Application Dates
With the final term of the current academic year just around the corner, Unisa has decided to announce its application dates for the 2024 intake.
Applications to study any undergraduate, honours and postgraduate programme at Unisa for the 2024 academic year will be open from Friday, 1 September 2023 until Friday, 13 October 2023.
These dates indicate that students will have less than a month left to prepare and gather all the necessary information and documents before applications open. The university has encouraged Grade 12 learners and interested candidates to apply in time for their programmes of choice to secure spaces.
As Unisa is a distance learning institution, they provide many support services for students, through libraries, tutorial support, counselling, and other online materials or tools.
How Unisa Applications Work
For prospective students wanting to start a new qualification must apply for admission including first-time Unisa applicants, Unisa students changing their qualification or specialisation, applicants who were accepted to study but did not register and students completing a higher certificate and want to continue their studies at Unisa.
Several steps must be taken before students can apply to study at Unisa. This includes ensuring they meet the qualifying criteria for the course they want to study, gathering all the supporting documents required by the university and ensuring they have a valid email and phone number.
Unisa warned applicants that the due date for uploading supporting documents is the same as the application closing date. They will not accept any documents uploaded after the closing date.
Documents Needed
Documents required for Unisa applications include:
- Copy of your school qualifications
- Copy Tertiary education academic records
- Copy of your ID document
- Sworn translations of the documents if they are not in English or Afrikaans.
Applicants must submit the required documents to Unisa. They will then be required to pay an application fee after they receive a student number. The application fee for online applications is R125.
Need A Bursary?
Unisa students are also able to receive financial aid via a bursary from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), this is on condition of meeting the eligibility criteria.
The NSFAS criteria for Unisa students are as follows:
- Be a first year or returning student in the year for which the bursary is
- Able-bodied students must have a household income that comes to R350 000 or less per year
- Students living with disabilities must have a household income that comes to R600 000 or less per year
- Must be a South African citizen or permanent resident
- Studying towards your first undergraduate qualification
In addition to covering a student's tuition and registration fees, NSFAS also provides students with several NSFAS allowances to cover the costs of accommodation, meals and learning materials.
For more information on Unisa's programmess, application process, and requirements, please visit the official website or contact the university's admissions office.
Should you require additional information on the tuition fees, applications and courses offered by Unisa, you can also visit our Where To Study directory.
